Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill

TLDR

The book draws on Stern’s four‑year interviews across three religions, revealing shared traits between Islamic jihadis and Christian fundamentalists and positioning the work as a key, thought‑provoking contribution to terrorism studies. The study aims to use Stern’s firsthand encounters with terrorists to illuminate the motives behind their acts and propose effective counter‑terrorism strategies. The author conducted four years of in‑depth interviews with extremist members of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam worldwide. Stern finds that opportunistic leaders use religion to recruit the disenfranchised, turning moral fervor into sophisticated groups driven by money, power, and attention.

Abstract

For four years, Jessica Stern interviewed extremist members of three religions around the world: Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Traveling extensively-to refugee camps in Lebanon, to religious schools in Pakistan, to prisons in Amman, Asqelon, and Pensacola-she discovered that the Islamic jihadi in the mountains of Pakistan and the Christian fundamentalist bomber in Oklahoma have much in common. Based on her vast research, Stern lucidly explains how terrorist organizations are formed by opportunistic leaders who-using religion as both motivation and justification-recruit the disenfranchised. She depicts how moral fervor is transformed into sophisticated organizations that strive for money, power, and attention. Jessica Stern's extensive interaction with the faces behind the terror provide unprecedented insight into acts of inexplicable horror, and enable her to suggest how terrorism can most effectively be countered. A crucial book on terrorism, Terror in the Name of God is a brilliant and thought-provoking work.